The Meaning of Yolo: 15 Ways to Live Your Life to the Fullest

If you don’t know the meaning of yolo, here’s everything you need to know about it. And yes, it means You Only Live Once *so just do it*.

If you’ve been around in the last few years, then I’m sure you’ve heard the term “yolo” being tossed around from time to time. But do you really know the meaning of yolo? Young people have been shouting out this word everywhere, and you are none the wiser.

Well, that’s what I’m here for. Yolo isn’t actually a word in itself. As I said above, it’s actually an abbreviation for four words: You Only Live Once. The idea behind this phrase is to let go of all your reservations and live the life you will be proud of because you only get one chance to do it.

Why it’s important to live the way you want

You may be thinking the meaning of yolo is ridiculous, and I have to say, sometimes people can get the wrong idea by it. There are many people who use this term as a means to justify their dangerous and immature behavior, but that’s not what yolo is all about.

It’s about embracing your life and living it to its fullest potential. It’s acknowledging the fact that you only have this one life, and therefore, you should spend it doing the things that make you happy instead of living it in fear and not having fun.

Here is the meaning of yolo… and how to do it

It may seem silly to need someone to tell you just how to live your life to the fullest and put forth the full effects of the meaning of yolo, but there are far too many people out there who have been living their life the wrong way for so long that they just don’t know how to change it.

The meaning of yolo is all about remembering that you only have just one lifetime to do everything your heart desires. So if you’re ready to embrace the fact that you only live once, here are the best ways to do it.

#1 Find your passion. I think you’d be surprised by how many people go through life without ever finding the one thing they’re most passionate about. Finding your passion could lead you to finding your purpose in life, and that alone will increase your happiness IMMENSELY.

#2 Get rid of negative people. There are negative people EVERYWHERE. However, they should not be in your life if you really want to take yolo seriously. You only have this one life, so why would you spend it being surrounded by people who only bring a dark cloud to your happiness? Ditch them. You’ll thank me later.

#3 Stop complaining and fix it. How many of you moan and groan about an issue you have until it’s just too much to take and then you have to fix it? Well, I have some news for you.

If you really want to live your life to the fullest, then complaining about things is not the way to go. This just wastes time, and you end up making something more negative than it needs to be. Identify the issue and then fix it right away.

#4 Spend one day a week doing whatever the hell you want. How can you live a happy life if you don’t ever get to do something you want? Everyone should have their “me day” in order to live their life to the fullest. I choose Sunday for this, and it’s the best day of the week.

#5 Ignore critical people. People will always judge you and try to change the things you do. As long as you’re not doing something illegal or immoral, you should never listen to them. Ignore everything they have to say, and you’ll find much more happiness and fulfillment in your life.

#6 Volunteer somewhere. Some people will argue that this isn’t important in order to truly feel the meaning of yolo, but I disagree. I think that helping others is such a profound way to not only become a better version of yourself, but also to allow someone else to live a life they’re proud of as well.

#7 Be kind to strangers. Yes, doing this will help you live your life to the fullest. You never know what your act of kindness will mean to someone you don’t know. Maybe it’ll make their whole day. Maybe it’ll make their whole year.

Do something nice for a stranger every opportunity you get. It can be as small as opening the door for them or as big as paying for their family’s meal at a nice restaurant.

#8 Buy the person’s coffee behind you in the drive through line. This is another way of being kind to a stranger. Sometimes it only takes $3 for you to turn yours and someone else’s day around. So offer to pay for their coffee and hopefully they’ll pay it forward.

#9 Stay up way too late doing something you like. Sure, science says you should get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. But what science doesn’t tell you is that if you stay up extra late one night because you lost track of time *because you’re doing something you’re crazy about*, it’s worth the loss of sleep.

#10 Practice to get better at something you suck at. I suck at drawing. I’m terrible at it, and you know what? I do it anyways because it makes me really happy, and I find great joy in seeing my improvements.

Getting better at something that you once were terrible at is a great way to build self-esteem and show yourself you can do anything – both really important things to living your life to the fullest.

#11 Doing something crafty at least once a month. You’ll never truly understand how calming, relaxing, and fun doing crafts is until you’ve spent a decent amount of time doing it. It brings you to a different place, and nothing is better than creating something with your bare hands. That is definitely the meaning of yolo.

#12 Listen to your music way too loud. To hell with what the neighbors say! Music speaks to us on a level that can’t be competed with. Therefore, if you need to hear that music more than normal, crank it up until you can’t hear yourself think! Yolo, right?

#13 Don’t worry about the small stuff. Stress can bring everything about your life to a halt – but only if you let it. Stop worrying about all the small stuff and spend your time focused on making it better and improving aspects of your life.

#14 Exercise at LEAST three days a week. FOR REAL! Exercise isn’t just important for staying healthy and living longer, but knowing what your body is capable of is one of the most gratifying feelings, and you’ll never fully be living your life until you know what you can do.

#15 Eat 70% healthy and 30% guiltily. Being healthy is important because what goes into your body can have an impact on how you feel every single day. If you really want to live your life to the fullest, you have to fill it with stuff that’s good for your body, but you can also splurge and eat the stuff that’s good for your soul.

The next time you’re worried about whether or not you’re living your life to the fullest, think back to this list because now you know the meaning of yolo!